Letter to the Editor: Commemorate birthdays separatelyI agree 100 percent with Governor Hutchinson’s proposal to honor Robert E. Lee’s and Martin Luther King’s birthdays separately. In fact, I’m not sure why they should be honored on the same day in the first place. What I do find curious is the governor’s lack of mention of Lee, seemingly focusing his argument entirely on honoring King. Each of these icons affected the course of history in different ways and at different times. Each of them dese...

Lettter to the editor: Don't forget to let fire trucks passDon’t forget to let fire trucks pass A fire truck, with sirens blaring and lights flashing, had a difficult time getting to the emergency at 8 a.m. this morning (Jan. 12). I was traveling south on South Arkansas Avenue when I noticed a fire truck approaching behind me. I signaled and pulled over to let the truck pass. I had to follow the truck for a few blocks, and those poor firemen had such a tough time getting where they were going! They ha...

Couple engaged at Wal-Mart, then accused of theftA Michigan couple’s engagement got off to a rocky start last year. Police said a 25-year-old man proposed marriage to a 20-year-old woman at a Bay City Wal-Mart store in front of employees and other shoppers who congratulated them on Dec. 30. But that same night, William Cornelius Jr. later was accused of shoplifting at a nearby store and arrested. Court records showed the items included an edible thong and sex toy. The Bay City Times, citing ...

Bonneville documented unexplored landsThe early years of the United States includes tales of many daring explorers. One of these figures was Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville, a Frenchmen by birth who immigrated to the United States and eventually made Arkansas his home. Bonneville gave Americans a much clearer view of the Rocky Mountain West thanks to his travels in the 1830s. Benjamin Bonneville was the son of a publisher and born in Paris, France, in 1796. In 1803, the famil...

Letter to the Editor: Job well doneFrom Dec. 28 to Dec. 30, 2015, the Russellville School District (RSD) and Russellville Rotary Club joined efforts to make an impact in the Arkansas River Valley, and I for one feel like we did. When RSD Athletic Director Johnny Johnson was speaking at a club meeting and mentioned the idea of having a basketball tournament to help local food banks during the holidays, it didn’t take Rotarians Tonya Gosnell and Kelly Stewart a second thought to ...

Letter to the editor: Gunshow loophole and background checksApparently, Obama is unfamiliar with the HIPAA Law. He should read it, especially the part that says you cannot be refused the purchase of a firearm for being “Mentally Defective” unless you are deemed mentally ill by the courts or committed to a mental institution. Medical professionals are not going to call the BATF every time a patient in their care says they’re angry, depressed, going through a divorce, lost their job or need help dealing ...

History Minute: Westbrook fought to preserve historical buildingsPeople will often drive past or walk by an old building in their city without giving it a second thought. For some, an old building is such a constant fixture that they forget about the events that took place inside it or stop noticing the beauty and originality of the design. And for still others, an old building is an impediment to progress. For Parker Westbrook, the past was worth treasuring and preserving. Because of the work of Westbrook,...

Woman beats DUI rap with claim her body brews alcoholDrunken-driving charges against an upstate New York woman were dismissed based on an unusual defense: Her body is a brewery. The woman was arrested while driving with a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit. She then discovered she has a rare condition called “auto-brewery syndrome,” in which her digestive system converts ordinary food into alcohol, her lawyer Joseph Marusak said in interviews last week. A town judge in the ...

Highway helpEditor, I live near the intersection of State Hwys 16 and 27. I use Hwy 27 for frequent trips to Russellville and elsewhere, and after 35 years, I am very familiar with this stretch of road and its dangers. These are generally well marked — posing little hazard, with one exception. Traveling north from Hector, after crossing the second bridge over the Illinois Bayou and starting up Fork Mountain at 1.3 miles from the bridge, there is a large o...

Goodbye 2015Goodbye 2015. As we close 2015, it is sad that we can’t ring out the fear gripping the hearts of Americans. No longer known as the home of the brave, the world now sees us as fearful and hating. What frightens us more: Jihadic terrorism or any and all bigotry; government regulation of guns or crazed men shooting to kill people; intrusive government regulation or climate change; too little surveillance or Big Brother; racist police or anarchy? ...

News Thoughts: Boss works his 40th straight ChristmasA New Jersey convenience store executive fulfilled his Christmas tradition of working in one of the company’s stores for the 40th consecutive year. QuickChek Senior Vice President Mike Murphy worked Friday at a store in Mount Arlington. Murphy said he’s always felt he should work the holiday since many of the employees have to. According to the company’s website, it has 140 stores in New York and New Jersey. He served coffee and cleaned inside...

History Minute: H.L. Hunt: From farmer to eccentric millionaireH. L. Hunt rose from a small farm in Illinois to making a fortune in the South Arkansas oil boom of the 1920s. His ventures in Texas would propel the eccentric millionaire to become one of the richest men in the world. Hunt made Tyler the headquarters for Hunt Oil in 1936 as the East Texas Oil Fields boomed, using his fortune and connections made in Arkansas oil to finance it. He soon transferred his company to Dallas. In 1938, he moved to the...

A place of significance — in Russellville“Shuffle Along,” the first African American musical that launched the careers of Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson, is coming back to Broadway. I learned about it on “Sunday Morning” this week, as well as the fact that the musical was nearly forgotten. The CBS story is filled with interviews of actors who expressed gratitude for the chance to be part of the effort to bring the show back to life. The story brought to mind something I’m passionat...

Letter to the Editor (Dec. 22, 2015)Dear Editor, Imagine Marty, from “Back to the Future,” getting out of the DeLorean and Doc asks, “Where you been Marty?” Marty replies, “Back from the year 2025, in a small city called Russellville, Arkansas”. “So what’s happening there?” Doc asks. “Well, they have pulled up one of the sidewalks from North El Paso and plan to re-install it between The Whattaburger and those old apartments up the road. The section was used very little and in go...

History Minute: H. L. Hunt was a self-made entrepreneur“Money is just a way of keeping score,” oil baron H. L. Hunt was once reported to have said. H. L. Hunt kept score, counted cards, and had a relentless appetite for anything he saw in one of the most unusual rags-to-riches stories in the history of American business. Haroldson Lamar Hunt, Jr., was born in Ramsey, a small farm community in southern Illinois, in 1889. He was the youngest of eight children. His father, Haroldson Hunt, Sr., was a ...

News Thoughts: No dog-eat-dog politics: City backs cat for mayorTired of the dog-eat-dog politics in their Russian city, the residents of Barnaul said they want a cat to be their next mayor. The Siberian city of 650,000 people, which lies 1,800 miles east of Moscow, is to get a new mayor next week when a commission comprising the city council and the regional governor choose from among six candidates. But none of the six appears to spark much affection among Barnaul’s residents. An informal online poll ask...

Murton championed fairness for prison inmatesSometimes, an individual has to pay a high price for principles. For Tom Murton, his principles dictated fairness for the least sympathetic in society, prison inmates. However, Murton’s brief but controversial tenure as an Arkansas prison superintendant brought nationwide attention to problems within the state’s prisons. He was born in California in 1928. In the early 1950s, he briefly served in the military and also worked as a deputy U.S. ma...

Letter to the Editor: Quilts of ValorQuilts of Valor My husband and I, Aubrey J. Pritchard, thank all the River Valley Quilters who had a hand in making and presenting a beautiful patriotic quilt that represented his service in Korea in the 5th regimental combat team. It was a great honor to us, and to his friends and family, to receive such an honor from the second tour, QOVF (Quilts of Valor Foundation) and the poem, from Mary Welch, relating to all our wonderful men who served...

Jones was civil rights leader in ArkansasScipio Africanus Jones was a leader in the civil rights community in Arkansas in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His work as an attorney not only saved innocent men from being executed but won important legal gains for minorities in the state. Jones was born in Dallas County in the southern reaches of the state during the Civil War. However, his birth date is uncertain and generally believed by biographers to be either 1863 or 1864. His mother...

Man named Bud Weisser arrested at Budweiser brewerySt. Louis police said the Budweiser brewery got an unwelcome visit from a man with a memorable name. Bud Weisser, 19, was cited for trespassing and resisting arrest. Police said he was found in a secured area of the brewery Thursday evening. Police said in a news release officers were called after security officers told Weisser to leave and he resisted arrest. Weisser was taken into police custody, then issued summonses for trespassing and res...